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Jürgen Margraf

Publications and source records attributed to Jürgen Margraf.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Epidemiology of specific phobia subtypes: findings from the Dresden Mental Health Study.

This study determined the prevalence, age of onset, comorbidity, and impairment associated with specific phobia subtypes in the community. Data were drawn from the Dresden Mental Health Study (N=2064), a representative community-based sample of young women in Dresden, Germany. The lifetime prevalence of any specific phobia was 12.8%, with subtypes ranging in prevalence between 0.2% (vomiting, infections) and 5.0% (animals). There were significant differences in the mean age of onset of specific phobias. Significant differences in comorbidity patterns also emerged between subtypes. No significant differences were found in level of impairment associated with the subtypes. The findings suggest that specific phobias are common among young women and that they differ in prevalence, associated comorbidity, and mean age of onset. These data suggest significant differences in the phenomenology and clinical significance of specific phobia subtypes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Recovery from social phobia in the community and its predictors: data from a longitudinal epidemiological study.

The present longitudinal study aimed to determine rate of natural recovery from DSM-IV social phobia in the community and to examine predictors of recovery. Data were derived from the Dresden Predictor Study of a representative sample of 1396 young German women. The participants completed a diagnostic interview and self-report questionnaires at two survey points approximately 1.5 years apart. Of the 91 women with social phobia at baseline 64% were at least partially recovered and 36% showed full recovery from social phobia at follow-up, defined as absence of any of the DSM-IV criteria of social phobia. Predictors of recovery from social phobia were: being employed, no lifetime depression, fewer than three lifetime psychiatric disorders, less psychopathology, less anxiety sensitivity, fewer daily hassles, and better mental health. These results show that rates of recovery from social phobia are relatively high in community and that less stress and internal psychological problems play an important role in recovery from social phobia.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Subtypes of social phobia: are they of any use?

This study investigated the existence of DSM-IV social phobia subtype models in the community. Data came from the Dresden Predictor Study of a representative sample of 1877 German women (aged 18-24 years) who completed a diagnostic interview and filled out various self-report questionnaires. The number of feared social situations was distributed continuously without a clear-cut for delineation of subtypes and significantly increased functional impairment, comorbidity, subjective need for psychotherapy, seeking psychotherapeutic help and dysfunctional attitudes, and decreased social support and mental health. Subtype models based on the number (1, 2-4 and >4) and type ('formal speaking fear' versus 'other fears') of social fear did not have extra value above the continuum model of social phobia. The heterogeneity within social phobia has to be seen as a continuum of severity of social phobia, with a greater number of feared situations associated with more functional, social and psychological disability.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Identifying anxiety states using broad sampling and advanced processing of peripheral physiological information.

Advances in biosignal acquisition and processing have provided an effective window to the complex peripheral physiology related to human emotions. Numerous cardiovascular measures have been used for assessing the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. More recently, respiratory parameters have shown promise for the assessment of anxiety. Current theoretical accounts of anxiety recommend a broad assessment of anxiety responses involving measures from the physiological, behavioral and verbal-cognitive domain. However, practical and statistical considerations put restrictions on the number of dependent variables used in studies on emotion. In a laboratory experiment we assessed a large number of psychophysiological parameters to identify their relative utility for differentiating between a neutral (quiet sitting) and an anxious state induced by threat of shock. High effect sizes were found in all psychophysiological systems with electrodermal and behavioral responses demonstrating the highest, and respiratory and cardiovascular responses yielding medium and small effect sizes. A linear combination of the six most powerful variables was highly significant in distinguishing the neutral from the anxious state and resulted in 83.3% correct classification. Results demonstrate the necessity to include measures from multiple response domains for an adequate assessment of anxiety states. Furthermore, our results point to the significance of respiratory parameters in anxiety assessment.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Drug use patterns in young German women and association with mental disorders.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of data about drug use patterns in young women. Mental disorders may influence those drug use patterns. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate drug use patterns (prescribed drugs, self-medication) in general and in relation to the prevalence rates of mental disorders in young German women. METHODS: A total of 2064 women (18-24 y old), obtained in a random clustered sample, were asked about their actual and former medication use. Moreover, a structured psychological interview (Diagnostic Interview for Mental Disorders) was conducted with each woman to evaluate the prevalence of mental disorders (according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition). RESULTS: Oral contraceptives (55.9%), thyroid preparations (7.1%), respiratory system drugs (9.4%), and nervous system drugs (8%) were the most commonly used medications. Only 10% of the women with one or more mental disorders used psychotropic medication. As expected, women with mental disorders were significantly more likely to use antidepressants and psycholeptic agents (ie, sedatives/hypnotics, antipsychotics) than were women without any mental disorder. However, there were no significant differences in use of pain medication. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate an apparently inadequate supply of drugs acting on the nervous system for women with mental disorders in Germany. Further studies on different age and gender groups are needed. It is important to evaluate the prevalence of diseases and drug use at the same time so as to identify deficits in drug therapy and optimize prescription and self-medication use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Age of traumatisation as a predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression in young women.

BACKGROUND: Findings in developmental psychopathology suggest that traumatisation in childhood may increase the risk of both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder, whereas traumatisation in adolescence is more likely to lead to elevated PTSD risk. AIMS: To estimate the impact of traumatisation in childhood or adolescence in a community sample. METHOD: A representative sample of 1966 young women from Dresden aged 18-45 years were interviewed for occurrence of traumatic events and the onset of PTSD and major depression. The sample was subdivided into a childhood trauma group (trauma up to age 12 years) and an adolescent trauma group (trauma from age 13 years). RESULTS: A quarter of all participants reported traumatic events meeting the DSM AI criterion. In the childhood group conditional risks for PTSD and major depressive disorder were 17.0% and 23.3%, respectively, compared with risks of 13.3% and 6.5%, respectively, in the adolescent group. In 29% of those with PTSD, major depression was also present. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of developing major depressive disorder after traumatisation in childhood is approximately equal to the risk of developing PTSD. After age 13 years, the risk of PTSD is greater than the risk of major depression after traumatisation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Screening for anxiety in an epidemiological sample: predictive accuracy of questionnaires.

The study examined the predictive accuracy of selected questionnaires when screening for anxiety in a representative epidemiological sample of young female adults (N = 1877). All participants were diagnosed using a structured diagnostic interview. Anxiety questionnaires included global as well as specific measures (Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Symptom Checklist, Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), Fear Questionnaire (FQ), Mobility Inventory (MI)). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive power were computed for two screening decisions: (1) identifying any anxiety disorder or (2) identifying a specific anxiety disorder (agoraphobia) within the total sample and the clinical subsample. Due to naturalistic (low) base rates in epidemiological samples, diagnostic indices were lower than those previously reported. However, questionnaire data proved useful when a specific disorder was targeted (agoraphobia) and specific symptoms were operationalized.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Priming panic interpretations in children of patients with panic disorder.

Cognitive and psycho-physiological models of panic disorder stress the role of interpretation bias in the maintenance of the disorder. Several studies have reported results consistent with this hypothesis, but it is still unclear whether this bias precedes panic disorder or is a consequence of it. In the present study, we compared the interpretations of ambiguous scenarios of children of individuals with panic disorder, children of individuals with animal phobia, and children of healthy controls. Children were presented with three types of scenarios each including one of the following descriptions: panic-relevant physical sensations, animal-relevant stimuli, and panic-irrelevant physical sensations (i.e., cold symptoms). To test, if children's interpretation bias is affected by priming, we compared their responses to the scenarios before and after watching a panic, a spider phobic, and a cold model. The results revealed that (a) children of panic disordered parents but not of parents with animal phobia and of healthy controls showed a significant increase in anxious interpretations after priming; and (b) this significant increase emerged only after priming through presentation of a panic-relevant model and not after priming through presentation of a phobia-relevant or cold-relevant model. Because the children of panic disordered parents did not have panics themselves, their increase in panic interpretations can be viewed as a vulnerability factor. Longitudinal studies should clarify the role of interpretation style in the etiology of panic disorder.

Adult↗